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Saturday, 26 April 2014

If you've been reading News24 of late you'll find that they have a new app for the elections (download here if you want). This kinda makes me excited in that it seems South Africans will be able to participate more in the events around them.

So this got me thinking that perhaps it was time for a review of the news apps in South Africa. News24 doesn't get me excited, their news is fast, it's just generally boring. Maybe is just the way they tell it...

So, I've downloaded eNCA, EWN, Business Day and News24. (You can click on any of the headings to be directed to the relevant app in the Play store)

With over 500 000 downloads this is by far the most popular local News app available. While I like their app, as I mentioned already, their news is told in a very straight forward manner that doesn't interest me. Its like a history teacher running through event dates. I switch off pretty fast, often just the headlines are enough for me!
One of my pet hates in this app and most SA News apps is that every time you turn your phone (turn it sideways or upright again) it automatically scrolls back to the top, to the top of the story, to the top of the list of articles. Drives me insane! I don't read the news every single day, so when I do I tend to scroll to find an interesting story, but having to scroll down to where I was each and every time is really infuriating! (I like to lie down and read). You also have to scroll back to where you were when you finsihed reading a story and go back to the list of articles.

Of course the best thing about News24 is the reason we all downloaded News24. It was that it was the best at getting the news to you first. Things appeared so quickly that it seems like days had gone by when you watched the news that night, it was old news already.

I've had this news app for some time as well because I was looking for something with better content than News24. While I like the content, the app hasn't really been updated in.... like... ever. It does say November 2013 in the Play Store, but there was no change to the app functionality. It does nothing new and has the same infuriating "starting always at the top" functionality.

So in conclusion there is not much to say. This app has some interesting news, but the lack of updates makes you feel Business Day doesn't want you to consume their content this way. With less than 10 000 downloads no wonder BD doesn't care much about it, this is even less downloads than the new News24 Elections app! They've just done it to put it out there and tick the box.

This seemed like a great app when I first opened it, but that was as far as I got. I only opened it and never opened it again. Opening it again it seems that they really want to use it to drive you to their DSTV Channel. The opening splash screen states this very clearly.

This app is solid though and provides a lot of good news coverage. This is reflected in that it has surpassed Business Day's app in regard to downloads with between 10 000 and 50 000 downloads.

This to me is the "new on the scene" app of local South African News apps. I managed to discover this when I downloaded the News24 Elections App (ironically), so I checked it out. Have a look at this huge spacing!

It could be because of the phablet I am using, they probably haven't optimised for all screen sizes and the variations of Android. That should come with time, but I found myself immediately captured by the stories, and you can get the latest news bulletin streaming to your phone with just a few taps.
I think this app is great and is worth checking out. My favourite thing about this app is that you can easily carry on from where you left off browsing, in fact, it is so integrated that as you browse the story and get to the end if it, if you keep scrolling down you will go straight into the list of stories that were below the story you are reading. It was so smooth and seamless that I didn't realise what was happening until I was already back in the Story List and carrying on from right where I left off!
Here is a screen shot of it.

I highly recommend this app as a result, good content and a good browsing experience.

If you have any other Local News Apps you are using please post them below in the comments and I would love to check them out and add them to the list.
Also let me know your favourite News App. Personally I love News Republic for my International News. Don't really know why, but it is mostly because you can tailor the News you receive. There are plenty other news apps now that allow you to tailor your news.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

You know that feeling, your old device is getting an update, a breath of new life into your device so that you can catch up to the rest of the world with new features and exciting interface.

You run the update and start to explore it..... then.......everything is so much slower than before. Disappointment! Big Mistake. So in my search online I found that the Samsung Galaxy S4 has then same problem as my Samsung Galaxy Note II (or Note 2 if you prefer).

A lot of the comments suggest making use of cleaners that close apps regularly, I didn't think this was the problem because I had used the Android functionality to manually close all open apps and free up memory, sure my phone was a bit faster, but then I used the apps again and the phone simply immediately got slower again.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I think the problem is really again a case of a slower processor trying to use an OS that requires a fast processor. (the reason I remember swearing about Windows updates)
So to compensate for this you need to change the "Animation Scales". You do this by enabling the "Developer options" Option (this is enabled by tapping the Build number of your phone 7 times). Then you reduce the three Animator Scales to 0.5 or 0 if you so choose. I found that 0.5 was enough.

Thursday, 17 April 2014

It is actually very easy to renew your vehicle license. I always feel sorry for all the people in the queue down at the Vehicle licensing department trying to get new License Discs. It is always a very long queue and I'm sure they stand for at least an hour trying to accomplish the task. Not that you don't sometimes stand for an hour in the queue in the Post Office! At least at the Post Office, if the queue is long, you can quite easily come back later. Also there is often a separate queue for MVL's!

But, Yes, you can renew your licence at your local post office. If you don't have the Notice of Renewal they send in the post you can simply fill in a form at the Post Office and they will still be able to process your renewal. However, if you have any problems it will be because of outstanding fines that you will have to sort out first (of course they don't tell you this while you are at the Post Office, you just get a grunt and a shrug of the shoulders). Then you won't be able to avoid going to the Vehicle Licensing Centre.

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

I seem to have lots of fun at the Vehicle Licensing Department. I sold that motor bike in 2012 and have been nagging the buyer to register it in his name for about two years. Having had to pay for the license disc for these two years I thought enough is enough, time to go to the effort to get it out of my name!

I ventured off to the Vehicle Licensing Department in Marlboro JHB armed with a Transfer of Ownership form, a copy of the sales contract, a previous License disc (the full document) a copy of my ID and a copy of the buyers ID.

I then pitched at the front desk and was told I needed an Affidavit and that this affidavit needed to state that I had sold the vehicle to the buyer.

So I popped out, got the affidavit at the nearest Police Station and returned. To my pleasant surprise I was able to get the motor bike out of my name WITHOUT the signature of the buyer! Yes, the guy at the counter noticed that it was not signed, but with the affidavit it seemed not a problem at all.

What a nice change to have something work for a change! So, don't forget to take the following documents if you have the same problem:
1. Completed Notification of a Change of Ownership Form (which can be downloaded from here, if they will accept the printed form is another question though)
2. Copy of your ID (they stated that it did NOT have to be a certified copy)
3. Affidavit stating that you sold the vehicle to the buyer
4. The Sales Contract and a copy
5. It may help to take a copy of the ID of the buyer if you have one)
6. You don't need the previous license disc form, but i was able to pull the vehicle VIN Number, register number etc. from the document.